Juniors, from left, Sharon Banh, Amy Griffin, Alyson Mendez and Kara Gilbert won the 400-yard free relay Friday to help lift the Los Alamitos swim team to the title at the Klaus Barth Wilson Invite in Long Beach.

Los Alamitos' girls swim team defended its title at the Klaus Barth Wilson Invitational on Friday, edging Long Beach Poly by two points.

LONG BEACH Los Alamitos’ girls swim team felt drained Friday as it raced for the third time in as many days. The upbeat music at the 57th Klaus Barth Wilson Invitational provided a jolt, but the ninth-ranked Griffins needed something more.

They didn’t have to look far for motivation.

“I just want to win for my team,” junior Amy Griffin said. “I know these girls are fighting for me, so I want to do my part and fight for them, especially (in) my relays.”

The Griffins won the meet-ending 400-yard freestyle relay in Lane 1 and rallied from an eight-point deficit against Long Beach Poly entering the race to capture the meet for the fourth consecutive season.

Los Alamitos’ all-junior 400 relay of Alyson Mendez, Kara Gilbert, Griffin and Sharon Banh touched in 3 minutes, 41.40 seconds to cap the Griffins’ scoring at 109 points. The tally was just enough to edge Long Beach Poly, which finished with 107 points after a fifth-place touch in the 400 free.

The Los Alamitos boys (84.5) finished a distant second in the team race to Peninsula (147) but captured the 200 free relay. Brandon Toland, Adam Lott, George McHenry and Paul Carey combined for a 1:29.86.

Dan Albano has been a high school sports writer at The Orange County Register since 1993. He covers football and all the aquatics: boys and girls water polo and boys and girls swimming. Dan's passion for water sports has earned him the nickname, "Aqua Dan" in the newsroom and taken him to multiple U.S. Olympic Swim Trials and many USA water polo events as a reporter. He also writes about high school football recruiting, including The Register's annual FAB 15 teams that list the top high school football players in the Western U.S. before National Signing Day. He compiles the Hot 150 list of football players to watch in Orange County before each season. During football season, he also partners with Steve Fryer and Jonathan Khamis on OCVarsity.com's Gridiron Show and hosts a weekly podcast on Trinity League football. In 2015, Dan received the Bud Dwyer Jr. media award from the Southern California High School Football Coaches Association. Dan is a graduate of Cal State Fullerton, where he worked at The Daily Titan as a news reporter, sports reporter, managing editor and opinion editor.

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